Speedball’s Letter To Customer Service
By / /
Recently, our cohort Speedball had trouble with his super expensive washer and dryer purchased from Best Buy. Here’s the letter he wrote to customer service – a warning to all corporate monsters not to get on his bad side.
Dear Best Buy,
I’m not going to invest any more time in explaining the circumstances surrounding my excruciating frustration with your company. If after reading this you are compelled to find out what I’m agitated about, I implore you to look up my account history. However, if my experience with the rest of your company is any indication, I’m sure that the system my account is stored on will be out of service for the next 4-10 days or nobody who works in the Account-lookup department will know how to look up accounts. Don’t bother to ask for a manager though, they’re worse than the rest of the staff.
From your store managers, to your phone support, to your delivery people, the incompetence at your company is staggering. You have built a monument to inefficiency so precise in its destruction of customer loyalty that in 1,000 years archaeologists will look at the ruins of your company and assume it was built to ritualistically sacrifice consumers.
To date, I have spoken to your main customer service department who could only offer to escalate my problems if I wait 21 days (I guess the first 7 months don’t count). I have spoken with your repair department who has told me my issue would be resolved sometime between 4 and 20 days (or 2-3, or 30, depending on who you talk to). I have spoken to your store managers who said they could do nothing to fulfill the agreement they made with me when I purchased your products – they even sent us a polite handwritten note explaining what a mess they’d created, but they could not help me resolve it. I have spoken to your Rewardszone department and they could not help me, in fact they could not help me over and over and over again as I restarted the process with them every 10 days just like I was instructed.
I have wasted more time being tortured mercilessly by the various diabolic fragments of disjointed departments within your organization than I care to think about. I have been made promises that were evidently complete fabrications, I’ve been hung up on, transferred to erroneous phone numbers, and talked to some of the least helpful, most rude, and most condescending customer service people I have ever dealt with at any company.
To date, not a single complaint I’ve ever had with Best Buy has been handled to my satisfaction.
The thought that I’m going to have to endure another seven years of this nightmare while my service plan is still in effect makes me want to shoot myself in the head. The only hope I have is that you’ll screw up and erase the extended warranty I paid for so I have an excuse to throw these worthless appliances into your parking lot and replace them with a set that actually works, from a company that actually cares if their customers are sickened by the thought of ever doing business with them again.
If I am ever foolish enough to set foot in one of your stores again, I hope a television falls on my head and kills me so my family can sue you and live off the blood money you have hoarded by extracting the finances and very souls of the hard working people in the community.
Speedball
Comments
Gregg October 16, 2007
Speedball:
Well said. Your
Speedball:
Well said. Your rant reminds me of an ad written years ago for Parker Pens by a fellow named Tony Brignull headlined “Rediscover the lost art of the insult.” Believe me, that’s a tremendous compliment. If your advertising copy is half as passionate and articulate as your letters, I want to work with you. But then, maybe I already do. Contact me if you are interested.
Maddie McRee October 16, 2007
Pls print w/my
Pls print w/my permission
7601 Penn Avenue
Richfield, Mn 55423 September 24, 2007
Dear Mr. Anderson:
Vice Chairman, CEO
Best Buy Corporation
Mr. Bradbury Anderson
I am writing because I was told by the manager of your Tallahassee store that the problem I describe below could only be resolved by Best Buy’s (BB) corporate executives.
On August 20 I purchased an Insignia 30” television set at a discount price (see enclosed receipt). At the time of purchase I was told that the reduced price was because the set had been previously sold and returned by the buyer. I was also told that the television was, nonetheless, in perfect working order, but would be sold without a box. I later discovered that the manual was for a different model television and that the remote control unit was defective (a new remote has been received as of this writing).
After many attempts, I was unable to get any image to appear other than a set-up menu. While installing the non-functioning television in an entertainment center in my home, the set dropped to the floor. The fall damaged the case slightly, but I was now able to get a picture on one channel but no cable connection.
I made an appointment with your home service department. He analyzed the television and advised that the problem was a malfunctioning circuit board which he would replace under the terms of the warranty.
The next day he called and informed me that INSIGNIA does not provide replacement parts for their television sets. The repairman stated that his instructions are to “REPLACE SET,” which he would not be able to do because of the cracked case.
At my request, he provided me his manager’s name, phone number in Jacksonville who confirmed the same. I requested that he try and locate the circuit board and case and I would pay for these parts. The Jacksonville Manager assured me that it would not be possible to locate parts for any Insignia television set.
I returned to the BB store, asked for a full store credit equal to the price of the television, and a refund of the charge for the four-year service contract fee.
Page Two
September 24, 2007
As of this writing, I have received a refund for the service contract and a two hundred dollar store credit (which I have not yet used) from Best Buy. When you reply, please advise whether you want the Insignia set returned to your store,
As you can now understand, the Tallahassee Best Buy manager, Tony Fishler, cannot provide me with parts which I would pay for and the labor, and so far won’t accept my terms to resolve this situation: an additional store credit of $299.98 which
will go towards an upgraded flat screen, the increase in price I would obviously pay for. I cannot accept the fact that I must discard a new set because BB cannot obtain parts, did not communicate this prior to my purchase and further, sold me a worthless four-year extended warranty.
I have been a satisfied customer of Best Buy for many years. I have always felt that I could purchase your products with confidence, and have recommended your stores to my friends and clients. I’m sure that you value your customers and make every effort to assure their satisfaction. I expect no less in this instance, and look forward to a resolution.
Sincerely,
Cherise October 17, 2007
I recently experienced
I recently experienced endless problems with Best Buy and Geek Squad. I did the email carpet bomb and my issue was resolved within a week. Try [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Cheri October 24, 2007
I truly enjoyed reading
I truly enjoyed reading speedball’s letter to Best Buy.
Unfortunately I purchased an Insignia television, and the owrthless extended warranty policy, from a Best Buy location in Arlington, Texas, in November of 2005. My television abruptly stopped working Sept 22, 2007.
A month later, after four service calls, seemingly endless hours spent in painful frustration speaking to the “lack of customer care” department and the “failed to repair” department, a letter to Mr. Anderson, a call to the store manager, and several conversations with the repair man, they finally replaced my television. My complaints fell on deaf ears, the only reason my problem was ever resolved was due to the repairman they’d kept sending out — I think he took pity on me.
I didn’t get angry about my situation until I started calling their “customer service” department. It seems to me that Best Buy could save a lot of money by replacing their entire “customer care” department with a recording that simply states that if a customer is having any problems with a purchase they foolishly made from Best Buy, they’re simply out of luck. A parrot would be an less expensive and equally productive replacement for any of their supervisory staff.
I read a comment posted by Maddie McRee that stated she was told that Best Buy didn’t replace parts for Insignia sets and were instructed to replace them. That is opposite of the experience I had. They ordered three replacement parts for my Insignis television. The tech requested that they replace my unit when he was unable to repair it, that request was refused twice. Seems their policies differ from location to location. This same repairman told me that they use used parts for their repairs. Surprise, surprise.
I was given a $1000 store credit when I returned my Insignia last week. I was told that I would only receive a credit equal to the current price of the unit I purchased, but that was not the case — I actually received a larger credit. I used that credit and hurried out of the store before they changed their mind.
I honestly did not want to purchase anything else from Best Buy and only did so to avoid losing my money. I will never make another purchase from Best Buy!